Rush's Urban interested, but Blades say they're not for sale

Saskatoon Blades managing partner Colin Priestner is adamant: The team is not for sale.

Saskatchewan Rush owner Bruce Urban, meanwhile, says he’s interested in purchasing the Western Hockey League team in the wake of a successful inaugural season for his local National Lacrosse League squad.

“To make a basic statement on it, if the deal is right, yes. There’s interest,” Urban said. “That’s as much as I can say.”

Urban would neither confirm nor deny making overtures about purchasing the team.

“I can’t get into that honestly, at this point,” said Urban, who moved his National Lacrosse League franchise from Edmonton to Saskatoon prior to the 2016 season and saw it grab a strong foothold in the local market.

Rumours have again circulated about a potential sale of the Blades, who were purchased by the Priestner family in 2013 for a reported $9 million. But Colin Priestner — who personally acquired a 10 per cent ownership stake when father Mike swung the deal with Jack Brodsky to buy the team — said there’s no basis to the speculation.

He called it “the fakest rumour that’s ever got out there.

“The rumours are just stupid,” said Priestner, who also serves as the team’s general manager. “I didn’t move my family and (team president Steve) Hogle didn’t move his family and all of us, to sell a hockey team. That makes no sense. We’re invested in the community and this team. We bought houses here. We’re raising our families here. It’s just a fake rumour that got out, that somebody made up one day. I don’t know who made it up. You can make up anything. We’re absolutely not selling now or any time.

“We’re all fully committed in the long term,” he added. “It’s a team that our family plans on owning for generations, not just years.”

“We’ve received assurance from the Priestners that the Blades are not for sale,” Robison said Friday.

“If the Blades were for sale, we would be the first to hear, and that has not occurred.”

Urban’s interest in purchasing the Blades would be partly based on synergies and cross-marketing opportunities between the two teams. The Rush averaged 11,737 fans per game last season, third in the league, and 15,187 in two playoff games while capturing a second consecutive NLL title.

The Blades are averaging 3,703 through 16 home games this season. They held a 15-20-5-1 record, four points out of a playoff spot, heading into Friday’s game in Moose Jaw. The team’s in the midst of a rebuild after missing the playoffs each of the last three seasons.

Urban said he’d like to see the two SaskTel Centre inhabitants “support each other,” whether he has a stake in the Blades or not.

“I’m a firm believer that if everybody is having success, it builds community and it builds excitement,” Urban said. “I would love to see the Blades jump it into high gear, get more fans into the building, and really get the city excited about junior hockey. Not that it’s not now, and we want to cheer the Blades on; we want to see them do well, our organization does, and I personally do. I want to see them get big crowds.

“I don’t feel we’re competing for fans. Hockey is a different sport than lacrosse. A person who goes to a lacrosse game, who has loved hockey for years, still goes out to support hockey. I never think, ‘Geez; the fans make a choice between us and them.’ I think we can both be successful, and ultimately, that’s what I would love to see. I think it can happen.”

Mike Priestner had long wanted to buy a WHL franchise, and jumped at the chance to purchase the Blades when Brodsky put them up for sale in 2013.

Colin Priestner has been busy in the first season with ‘general manager’ attached to his title, swinging a plethora of deals while working to maintain the team’s on-ice bounce-back following meagre 16- and 19-win seasons in 2013-14 and 2014-15. They’re coming off a 4-2 road victory over Brandon on Tuesday.

“You’ve got to win,” Priestner said. “I think a run here will help us generate interest in the last two months.”

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